Study On Carrier’s Liability Under "Rotterdam Rules"

The purpose of drawing up the law of carriage of goods by sea is tomake the carrier’s and the shipper’s rights and obligations be abided bylaws, to regulate the trading by sea. In the relationship of carriage ofgoods by sea, the carrier is not only performing the role of transportinggoods, but also performing responsibility for carriage of goods, enjoyingthe exemption and so on. These will bring profound effect on therelationship between the carrier and the shipper. In the study of law ofcarriage of goods by sea, we should pay more attentions on the study ofthe carrier’s liability system, because it not only involves the interests ofthe carrier’s and the shipper’s, but also represents the futurecharacteristic of Maritime law,and tendency of legislation. If we lookback at the development of the national legislation of carriage of goodsby sea, we will see, the change of the carrier’s liability system in the world is not only a sign of the changes of the law of carriage of goodsby sea, but also the result of the power struggle between the carrier andthe shipper. As the second revolution, the technology of navigation isconstantly improving, the strength of carrier and the shipper isconstantly improving too. When the countries around the world was inthe legislation, especially in the legislation of carrier’s liability, theybecame to lean to the strength of the shipper.Given the importance ofthe carrier’s liability system in carriage of goods by sea trade, researchon the carrier’s liability system is not only has significance of theoreticalsignificance, but also has the function of guiding in the practicaloperation of carriage of goods by sea trade. So the author writes as"Study on the carrier’s liability under Rotterdam Rules" to discuss theinfluence of the carriage of goods by "Rotterdam rules". And the writerput forward the idea as "whether we should join in Rotterdam rules".This paper will first analyze the liability system of carrier in "Rotterdam rules", the background of drafting convention, and will alsoevaluate the period of responsibility， the basis of responsibility,statutory obligation and limitation of liability under the "Rotterdamrules". The writer hopes that under this study can promote thedevelopment of maritime transport industry in our country.This paper is divided into three parts which includes theintroduction，the main body, and the conclusion.The introduction part includes the research background of thispaper，identification of relevant concepts, research approach and thesignificance of this paper.The main body consists of five chapters.The first chapter will analyze the structure of liability system ofcarrier in "Rotterdam Rules", including the outline of the liabilitysystem of carrier in "Rotterdam Rules" the character of the liabilitysystem of carrier and evaluating the significance of the liability system. The second chapter analyzes the change in the period of carrier’sresponsibility,consisting of four parts，including the development ofperiod of carrier’s responsibility, the provisions of the period of carrier’sresponsibility in "Rotterdam Rules", the relationship between the periodof carrier’s responsibility,period of contract and care of cargo, andevaluating the period of carrier’s responsibility in Maritime law ofChina.The third chapter analyzes the change of carrier’s of statutoryobligations in "Rotterdam Rules", improving and perfecting thelegislation of the obligation of due diligence and care of cargo in China.The fourth chapter mainly discusses the change of basis ofresponsibility including the principle of responsibility，exemption ofnavigation.The fifth chapter discusses the change of limitation of liability, andanalyzes the influence of Maritime law of China. At the final chapter, the author summarizes the trend of thelegislation of carrier’s responsibility.